GUEST VIEW: Refugees good for city's economic development

By DAVID DYSSEGAARD KALLICK AND SHELLY CALLAHAN

Wednesday

Mar 8, 2017 at 2:00 AM

When you think about refugees your first thought is probably not about Utica’s economic revitalization.

That’s as it should be. Refugees have suffered through the most horrific experiences on the planet. Helping people who fled Bosnia or Burma find a new home here, and realize new life opportunities, is a part of what this country is all about.

But make no mistake, refugee resettlement is also very good for Utica’s economy, and that of other cities in Upstate New York. Which means it is good for all of us.

Start with the basics. The biggest challenge facing Utica is population decline. In 1950, Utica had just over 100,000 residents. In 2000, the population was 60,700, almost half that number. That means empty and deteriorating houses, schools, and shops; lower tax revenues to support infrastructure; and fewer working age residents to support job growth.

Immigrants and refugees are already reversing population loss. Over the past 15 years, Utica finally turned around its population decline, stabilizing and even squeaking out a little bit of population growth, according to Census Bureau estimates. Look a little deeper, though, and you’ll see a story about the importance of refugees and immigrants. Between 2000 and 2015, the U.S.-born population dropped by 3,100. That loss was offset by growth of 3,500 in the foreign-born population–and in Utica, a big share of that is about refugees.

Refugees need support to get established, but do well once on their feet. A recent national study by the Fiscal Policy Institute and Center for American Progress shows this for Somali, Burmese, Hmong and Bosnian refugee communities. The study showed that refugees get jobs quickly and make substantial gains in earnings over time. Homeownership rates are high: three of the four refugee groups studied had higher rates of home ownership than U.S.-born families after 10 years.

Locally, we’ve seen East Utica renovated and revitalized as Bosnians moved in in the 1990s, making the area a more appealing place to live and do business. The same thing is happening today in Corn Hill, as Burmese and Karen refugees moved in, joined by Bhutanese, Sudanese, Iraqis, and Somali Bantu. Stop by Oneida Square, Bleecker Street or Mohawk Street and you’ll see lots of small ethnic businesses, from a Vietnamese market, to Bosnian coffee shops and a wide range of restaurants. You can eat food from Bosnia, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Lebanon, Dominican Republic and Burma all in one week.

And, outside of Utica in Oneida County immigrants are playing an important role as farm workers, supporting the region’s agricultural industry.

President Donald J. Trump’s order to cut refugee arrivals to 50,000 and restrict immigration is a humanitarian tragedy. It also has strong negative consequences for the economies of Utica and other Upstate New York cities. It stops millions in federal revenue that comes to Utica and is spent here. It cuts funds that pay for jobs. Resettlement agencies are already laying off workers because of these cuts. Some agencies will undoubtedly close. And it leaves the refugees who help revitalize Utica without the support they need to do so.

Last week, Assembly members Anthony Brindisi, Sean Ryan and and their colleagues across Upstate proposed a better alternative: the governor and the state legislature should fund resettlement agencies facing these federal revenue cuts, and provide additional funding to assist agencies support refugee integration. The costs would not be overwhelming: $12 million would preserve capacity and fund extended case management across upstate as well as expand legal support to help with naturalization. This aid would go overwhelmingly to Upstate—last year, 90 percent of refugees in New York State were resettled Upstate, where housing costs are lower and refugee resettlement agencies have the capacity to resettle newcomers.

So, by all means, when you think of refugee resettlement, think first about the humanitarian good it does and how it figures into your life, maybe even into your own family history.

But don’t underestimate the important role refugees play in boosting the local economy. If it’s not your first thought about refugees in Utica, there’s a good reason it should be your second.

David Dyssegaard Kallick is the director of the Fiscal Policy Institute’s Immigration Research Initiative. Shelly Callahan is the executive director of the Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees.

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